Assuming, of course, that you are reading this article with the intent of learning how to earn a respectable income as a writer, either part-time or full-time, designing a writer’s life should be your first step.

I want to be clear here: There are always exceptions to every stance. However, as a former special education teacher of at-risk children and adults (gang members, drug addicts and alcoholics, and the “severely emotionally disturbed”—not a personal judgement, but a population designation for those unaware), dynamics in such classrooms would severely jeopardize the safety of both students and educators if the latter are allowed to open carry while teaching.

Allow me to get this out of the way first: I’ve read each and every book listed here, as well as those mentioned here, cover-to-cover. I have utilized no defined methodology in selecting my choices, other than my own grasp of history.